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[enjoymyatelier]

( PLAYER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME: Ran
AGE: 23
CONTACT: AIM: TungstenSamurai, RandomProphet
CURRENT CHARACTERS & LATEST AC: I'm brand new!

RESERVATION LINK:

( CHARACTER ★ INFORMATION )

NAME & AGE: Kayneth El-Melloi Archibald, uh... 34? No official age given but that's what I usually estimate.
CANON & CANON POINT: Fate/Zero, shortly before storming the Einzbern castle, so roughly episode 7 of the anime and -130:45:08 of the novel
CANON INFORMATION: Wiki link! apologies for the nasu

PERSONALITY: Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi is kind of an asshole.

Well, no, that’s simplifying things, even if it’s true. He’s the sort of person who’s never really faced any difficulties in life—partially because he was born into an aristocratic family and partially because he had oodles of natural talent and was considered a prodigy from a very young age. This comes with all the personal flaws you’d expect from such a person: arrogance, elitism, entitlement, and a complete inability to deal with failure. As far as Kayneth is concerned, the world is set up to ensure his personal success. Even things like complements tend to annoy him, because as far as he’s concerned, things he gets complemented on just come naturally to him. It’s like getting complemented for breathing.

Of course, he’s not simply satisfied with where he is now... in fact, thinking about it, a life like that is somewhat boring, isn't it? Practically everything he does is geared towards increasing his own prestige as a mage, including throwing himself into a conflict like the Holy Grail War, which he did partially for entertainment purposes and partially to add some martial prowess to his already impressive resume. Clearly, being the head of a famous family of mages, getting named a genius by most, and having become a lecturer at the Clock Tower at a fairly young age wasn’t enough. He’s quite self-centered and fails to understand people who aren’t, so he tends to be suspicious of people who are naturally predisposed to helping others. He’s kind of a typical member of the magical aristocracy in that regard, actually. He has a tendency to look down on anyone whose family hasn’t practiced magic for a significant amount of generations and has no qualms about bullying them or assuming the absolute worst of their capabilities, especially if they do something that he perceives as an insult.

See, for example, his interactions with the low-born Waver Velvet, who he publicly humiliates in front of a class full of students for a thesis that attacks the fundamentals of the lineage-based system that the Mage Association effectively built itself on. Of course, this tendency to think the worst of those who he perceives as low-born and disrespectful of magic eventually backfires rather spectacularly when he underestimates Kiritsugu Emiya based on the fact that he uses conventional methods over magic, but that hasn't happened yet. Well, okay, the hotel has because he didn't assume that someone would bypass his dungeon filled with traps by simply blowing up the entire building. Shoulda reinforced the foundations, dude...

Speaking of that hotel! He extends that umbrella to cultures that he thinks are out of touch with their history and have become irreversibly consumerist. At one point, he decided the nice hotel room he’s staying in is a complete pigsty because to him, it’s putting on airs without having anything of cultural significance in it. Granted, he was annoyed with something at the time, which leads into another point—Kayneth has a very… odd way of dealing with anger in that he tries to internalize it, but you can read him like a book anyway. Possibly because his mind tends to go very strange places when he’s angry, like the time when he realized he accidentally insulted himself because he insulted someone who’d managed to injure him. Even though he may look perfectly calm, you can practically feel it radiating from him, and if pushed hard enough he can get downright murderous. …that, and he has a tendency to take it out on people (or things…) who can’t really stand up to him. Usually, it’s the offender if they’re in front of him… but, well, he does have his weaknesses, after all, even if it may seem like he doesn't.

The biggest one would be Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, his fiancée. He’s kind of hopelessly in love with her (even though she doesn’t exactly reciprocate) and has an extremely difficult time saying a word against her. He’s also pretty willing to do dumb things to try and prove himself to her despite the fact that he’s usually stubbornly inflexible, so, uh, in short—he’s completely whipped, which he’s… somewhat aware of. Maybe a little bit. Of course, he does have a tendency to get super jealous and possessive when she’s showing other people affection… yeah, summoning the dude who unconsciously charms women without really analyzing the strength of your relationship might not have been the best idea, Kayneth.

Speaking of Lancer, aka Diarmuid... well, Kayneth sees him more as another tool in his arsenal than an actual person, which makes Lancer's desire to get his chivalry on all the much more frustrating even without that little Love Spot issue. It's difficult to say whether or not he'd apply this attitude to people other than Lancer given that Lancer's kind of a special case, being a Servant that he summoned and all, but given how Magi usually tend to regard human life, it's not entirely impossible that he would be perfectly willing to use another person as a tool without actually recognizing them as a person.

With all of that said, he’s not totally awful. He is capable of coming off as a gentleman (admittedly one with a slight foppish and kind of melodramatic streak), as he’s a fairly popular guy at the Clock Tower and tends to be highly regarded by people who have fairly simple dealings with him. He's actually fairly savvy when it comes to political dealings on account of Clock Tower being a complicated mess of backstabbing and ambition. If you want to get anywhere there, much less anywhere remotely respectable, politicking is practically a survival skill. His aristocratic upbringing and lineage ensured that he'd have plenty of connections to start out with, but he's perfectly capable of making more --- after all, while it was admittedly somewhat terrible for his personal life, Sola-ui was actually a politically strategic match, as she happens to be the daughter of the head of the Spiritual Evocation department.

He does have a sense of honor that he takes very seriously, though it tends to clash with the knightly sort of honor a lot of Servants have in that he prefers to oversee things from the shadows rather than getting right into the action (unless goaded into it, of course). Mage Honor is complicated and tends to be more about personal glory than anything really chivalrous, but he does, for the most part, tend to be sporting. While he's perfectly willing to employ clever deceptions, he's not the sort to pull dirty tricks, and he loves nothing more than the honorable variety of mage battles. Even when he considers himself above his opponent, he does have some genuine respect for them if they show some cleverness and play by the rules. The problem is that he tends to expect them from everyone, and… well… all bets on that 'honor' thing would be off if he were to completely lose his shit.

This hasn't happened yet, but it might. And if his opponent isn't being honorable... well, heaven help them, because he's not exactly above threatening to kill them by dissecting them while keeping their lungs alive with magic. And if he's pushed too far into a corner, it's entirely possible that all bets are off regardless. He's the sort of person that would discard honor before necessarily giving up... but it must be stated that it would take a monumental amount of misfortune to get him to that state.

But why would that ever happen to him? He's one of the most fortunate men out there, after all, and it would take a whole lot to get him to give up his pride in his name and his faith in tradition.

...admittedly, though, he's definitely the sort who legitimately can't see something going wrong for him, and that's... kind of a recipe for disaster in and of itself.

COURT ALLIANCE & REASONING: Kayneth is... actually kind of difficult because I feel like Nasuverse mages are kind of sort of Unseelie to begin with, given that they tend to scoff at traditional morality and are generally kind of self-centered and self-serving as a matter of course.

However, I'm going to go with Seelie for Kayneth, as he's definitely more on the Lawful Neutral end of things than anything truly chaotic or genuinely evil. He's the kind of guy who values order and tradition and has... well, if not a moral code, a set of standards that he abides by. While those ideals can be shaken, it would take something pretty monumental for that to happen, so he'd generally stick to them. And he actually is an artist, so he's the sort who'd have a pretty deep appreciation for beauty and lofty things like that.

ABILITIES: Ahahahahahahhaahahha oh my god don't make me parse Nasu there's a reason I haven't played this nerdlord in a game with powers before this

...uh, okay, anyway... the problem with Kayneth is that he has a really wide variety of magical talents, the most exceptional being Spiritual Evocation, Summoning, and Alchemy, though he's also capable of Necromancy, as well. He's also packing a lot of magical power in general, and not all of his abilities are explained that well in canon except one or two. So in order to keep him from being super broken, I'll try to limit him to the stuff that's explicitly displayed in canon, has solidly defined workarounds, and is explained beyond a throw-away line or two. I would absolutely be willing to nerf any of this if it sounds too broken, because playing some overpowered fuckwad who wins all the time isn't fun for me or anyone else.

-Magic Circuits/Magic Crest: Magic circuits are something that every mage has, and it would probably be best to compare them to a nervous system for magic. The more magic circuits a mage has, the more magic they can use and the more magically powerful they are, and Kayneth is definitely no slouch in that department. Furthermore, mages often collect a specific set of magic circuits together called a Magic Crest and pass them down to their descendants as a sort of... spiritual organ transplant, I guess. These not only give a mage more circuits to work with to begin with, but they also carry with them spells learned by the previous holder of the Crest, giving the new holder an early advantage by giving them access to more spells to begin with. They're also cumulative, so the longer a mage's lineage, the more spells they know and the more powerful they are. Kayneth has nine generations of magical lineage behind him, so yeah, he's packing some serious heat. Of course, even he has his limits, and casting spells causes some degree of pain, so you know.

BOONLOCKED:-Volumen Hydragyrm: Probably Kayneth's signature ability, Volumen Hydragyrm is the most powerful of his numerous Mystic Codes. Basically, it boils down to a shitload of magic-infused mercury that, through his dual elemental affinities of air and water, he can manipulate however he likes. He does have several automated abilities preprogrammed into it, like the ability to follow him around like some kind of weirdo blobby Pokemon. If he is attacked, Volumen Hydragyrm can immediately reshape itself into a defensive barrier, protecting him from attack. By commanding it to attack, he can order it to grow whiplike tendrils that, between the density of mercury and centrifugal force, can cut through practically anything. If he's searching out an enemy, Volumen Hydragyrm can extend its tendrils over a fairly large area as a means of detection. ...finally it can take a jellyfish shape and Kayneth can ride the thing because why not.

If that sounds hilariously overpowered and really complicated, that's because it is. Here's a link that explains the nitty gritty details better than I can. The most important part to know for this section is the various capabilities' weaknesses that can be exploited, which I'll go through in sub bullets.

--Attack Mode: Because Volumen Hydragyrm relies on centrifugal force to cut through basically anything, it's way less powerful at the tops of any whip-type things it uses and can't really do a ton of damage unless there's a ton of mass involved. Given that another character, Waver Velvet, is already currently using a later version of Volumen Hydragyrm in the game with attack mode disabled, I'd be happy to disable attack mode with this version, as well.

--Defense Mode: Volumen Hydragyrm's defensive capabilities rely on achieving a specific surface tension that will block a specific force. This can be bypassed if VH is prepared to block one size of projectile, but is very quickly attacked with an more powerful projectile before it has a chance to adjust its surface tension to a new threat. A canon example of how VH was bypassed was using one caliber of bullet and very quickly switching to a gun that used a larger caliber of bullet. Of course, guns don't work in this setting, but I'm sure similar principles apply with other kinds of projectiles. This will only work once, though, because he'll turn up defense to max after the first time it happens.

He can also use a different defense configuration with VH that takes the form of a series of pillars rather than a circular shield, but he'd rarely bring it out because it's extremely taxing to use.

--Search Mode: Search mode takes some time to set up, as it involves letting the mercury extend into a web of small tentacles that will search through rooms and seal off exits. It's not slow, but it is a bit involved. The search tendrils can attack, but it will be extremely weakened from being so far away from the main blob of mercury.

Also, the mercury can't see, hear, smell, or taste; it can only detect vibrations, air pressure, and heat. If someone's capable of hiding themselves from that, they can escape detection... but it's rather difficult to do.

--General: Unlike the updated Maid Mode version of Volumen Hydragyrm that Waver Velvet has, Kayneth's version of Volumen Hydragyrm is automated, but it is by no means intelligent or in possession of any kind of sentience or sapience. It doesn't even have a maid form because why would you do that? That's just silly. It's going to be a blob and it's going to be fine with that.

UNUSABLE IN THRONE ROOMS-Illusion: Kayneth can use spells that conceal his presence by method of illusions. The visual end of this essentially functions as a cloaking device, rendering him invisible. He's also capable of masking his voice's identity and location, which sort of results in an echo-y voice of indeterminable identity and gender that could really be coming from anywhere. This is generally very effective, but there's actually one weakness to it --- these illusions don't hide his heat signature, so if someone has any way to detect that, they'll generally be able to find him.

-Healing: Kayneth is capable of healing a variety of wounds almost instantly, though it should be noted that the more grievous the wound, the longer it will take to heal. This obviously applies to himself, but he can heal others just as easily. He can do this from a distance, as well, making him a more effective medic than one would really expect.

-General: Kayneth's elemental affinity is a dual alignment to Wind and Water, so he has most luck with magic governing things that flow. He can create familiars using animals and summoned spirits, though he'd obviously need to do research on and learn the precise nature of the Drabwurld's offerings in order to be able to summon any spiritual familiars. He's politically pretty savvy, and one of his more mundane talents is that he's an artist skilled in drawing, sculpture, and crafts.

-Magical R&D: Kayneth is kind of a clever guy, so he'd likely want to learn about the local magic and magic from other worlds, and would likely want to do some magical R&D to try to exploit Drabwurld magic loopholes and incorporate stuff he learned from non-Nasu characters... which, as shown by him outright altering the Holy Grail War's summoning system despite having no ties to any of the founders who actually govern it, he is canonically capable of doing. However, I would not allow him to accomplish any of this kind of stuff without prior mod approval. I think it could be fun to work with, but you guys call the shots and I don't actually want to do anything gamebreaking here. I'd rather cooperate with other players and the mods to try and work out fun magic experiments than try to win! It's more fun when he fails horribly, anyway.

INVENTORY:
...most of his stuff got blown up in the hotel so all he currently has on him are:
-a fancy wallet with identifying information and lots of yen
-his clothes

( WRITING ★ SAMPLES )

NETWORK SAMPLE:
[Well, someone's discovered the locket's video function! Someone... smug. He's smiling about something, though his attention seems less focused on addressing the viewers than it could be at the moment.]

Quite remarkable, isn't it? Ah, I wonder if they have extras? I'd love to see what sorts of enchantments are put on these...

[Then he seems to realize now isn't the time to nerd out, and addresses the locket a bit more directly.]

But that's for later --- for now, introductions are in order, I believe. I am Lord Kayneth El-Melloi, Ninth Head of the Archibald House...

[...he trails off a bit, and then shifts gears a bit.]

Of course, if there's anyone here who recognizes the significance of that, I suppose I'd like to speak to them more directly. As for the rest of you... well, if we are to be allies, I wouldn't mind opening up discussion of anything that would make victory more certain. In particular, I'd like to know about other worlds' magic, both yours and our enemies'. Admittedly, that's almost more for curiosity's sake, rather than purely strategic purposes. This is a rare opportunity indeed, and I'm not one to squander it.

LOG SAMPLE:
Taken from one war and led away into another... some might consider it to be somewhat frustrating, and at first, Kayneth was extremely frustrated. But truthfully, after being given some information on the actual mechanics of this war, Kayneth was practically chomping at the bit to fight in it. Other individuals probably weren't quite as thrilled, but to him, this place was practically paradise. No actual reason to keep magecraft a secret, no pointless cultural bankruptcy... and, most importantly, a battlefield filled with soldiers from numerous parallel worlds that he'd reached by some sort of Second Magic where he could win glory beyond measure --- and then, he could head back home and win the Holy Grail War.

Well, that was the way he saw it, anyway. Perhaps at some point, he should slow down and think about it a little more clearly... but he certainly had something of a spring in his step as he headed from place to place at the feast. He planned on avoiding it in conversation, as he wasn't quite sure what the reaction would be to that kind of ambition --- but it was rather difficult to miss the enthusiasm in his smirk as he imagined how, exactly, everyone back at the Clock Tower would react when he told them of both his adventures. Really, as far as he knew right now, the only downside to this was that he was, for quite understandable reasons, lacking in connections --- but given that he could hob with the best of nobs, he'd clearly have no difficulty making them.

So, while he tried to avoid anyone... terribly scruffy looking and wondered what exactly they're doing there, he was perfectly open to share a drink with anyone halfway respectable looking and discuss their current circumstances amicably, though he was noticeably shying away from the faeries, as he wasn't quite in the mood to deal with any pranks.

...actually, after seeing some looking a bit conspiratorial in the corner and quickly heading in another direction, he mused that if they were intolerable, that would be another downside...